Walk in the Dark

by flowerslut

With a world in mourning a return to normalcy is nothing more than a fantasy. There are whispers of a movement stirring; with the potential to upend life as everyone knows it. Meanwhile, Alice seeks to uncover her own origins, leading her down a dangerous path. Deception runs rampant, and secrets can't be kept forever. Everything is shifting, and Alice can't find her footing.

17. Chapter 17

"You two are welcome to the area for as long as necessary," Eleazar spoke as the group followed Tanya out of the Great Room and deeper into the giant building. "I don't want either of you to let the possibility that James and Victoria may come here drive you away. I'm going to arrange to have a highly-specialized squad patrolling the area; it'll be safer than any Center you'll be able to find for hundreds and hundreds of miles. You have my word."

"I appreciate that," Jasper nodded. "Like I said before, we may only be here for a few days. Just long enough to utilize your resources and regroup with the other Protectors."

"Still," Carmen chimed in, "the offer stands."

"God knows Garrett would kill for some company outside of us for a little while," Kate threw the comment over her shoulder and Tanya snorted. "He's probably off bothering some unsuspecting moose."

Alice perked up at the idea of perhaps spending an extra day or two in Denali, but disappointment was quick to rear its ugly head when Alice saw in her mind that they really wouldn't be staying any longer than necessary, no matter what.

It was smart, of course. If James and Victoria really were going to attempt to track her or Jasper or Laurent down, they needed to keep moving. Staying in one place for too long would never mean anything good for them as long as threats were out there.

It was when they approached a large set of double-doors, central to the house's design, that Alice realized with excitement that she was about to see the most gorgeous library she'd ever laid her eyes on.

It took both Tanya and Kate, entering their own personalized passcodes in synch on opposite sides of the doorway, to allow access passed the doors. And then after that, another, less friendly-looking door. These doors required fingerprint access, and both woman once again, wandered to different parts of the room to have their fingers scanned.

When the door opened, it led them into a large, nondescript elevator.

There were no buttons in the elevator. With only one destination and one stop, it wasn't necessary.

The ride down was quick, but Alice could tell the elevator was moving exceptionally fast. She wondered just how far down into the mountain these libraries were built, but when the elevator came to a quick stop, her attention was fully ahead of her.

And when the doors opened, Alice couldn't help but marvel at the sight.

For a library that only saw a few familiar faces every year, they really had spared no expense with the architecture of the place. The view, looking out into the massive main area was something that Alice had only seen one picture of before, on one of Rosalie's computers. There were no publicly released photos of it, for security purposes. But Alice had to wonder why they couldn't at least share this view.

Walking directly out of the elevator onto a large balcony that overlooked a giant room, the architecture reminded her of a cathedral. Looking down below Alice counted four floors that she could see, books and documents and files carefully and meticulously sorted and organized on each and every level. The archways were magnificent, polished wood shining as the soft lights hanging overhead gently reflected off of it.

The main area was lightly-illuminated of course. Jasper had already informed her that many documents kept here were ancient, and the control they kept over things like lighting, temperature, and humidity, had to be very carefully monitored.

"It's gorgeous," Alice spoke, in awe as she leaned over a dark-stained wood banister, marveling at how it seemed to glow despite being far beneath the surface. "How often do you guys spend time in here?"

Tanya hummed as she thought, "Depends. I'm usually only here a few hours a week. Once you've worked this job long enough, you've made your way through most of the more important things to see down here. Of course," sighing, she handed Kate the tablet she'd been tapping way on, "most of our time in here is spent filing new paperwork away or making changes to people's files."

"That reminds me," Kate tapped on the screen as well before shooting Jasper a grin, "I've had your file on my desk for six months now. Can't wait to finally put that shit away."

Jasper made an amused noise. "Here's to hoping you don't need to edit or add anything else any time soon."

"Stay out of enemy clutches then."

It wasn't until she realized that the Council members were all walking back into the elevator when Alice pulled her attention away from the magnificent sight before them. "Where are you all going?"

Eleazar's smile was kind as he waited for the women to enter first, "You two aren't the only ones with plenty of work to be done. We're just a phone call, or an elevator ride away."

"Yes, please let us know if you need anything," Carmen called toward them, smiling toward Alice. "It's lovely to have you here finally, Alice."

And when the door finally closed shut behind the quartet, Alice frowned. "I feel silly that I'm sad they won't be down here with us for any length of time."

Jasper reached out and grabbed her hand. Alice knew he was smirking at her before she even looked up at his face. "You like people. I get it. It's not silly."

"They're all so nice," Alice sighed, wrapping her arms around Jasper's midsection, resting her head against his chest. "Well…"

"Irina is just worried." Jasper dismissed, "I wouldn't look too deeply into that. She's very protective over the people she cares about."

"I like Laurent. But yeah, I get it." Alice exhaled slowly. "I'd be worried, too, if I were her."

Jasper nodded, his arms holding her against him, "Certainly doesn't feel great to have the person you love in harm's way."

Alice turned toward him, planting a kiss against his chest before pulling back. "Alright, now please show me around this place. It's incredible." She walked toward the staircase to their right and beckoned for him to follow. "It makes your library at home look kind of wimpy."

Jasper snorted. "It's not my library."

"It's kind of yours. I mean, no one else spends as much time down there unless they have to be there. You like it there."

"I like my work." He fell in step beside her as she wandered down the wide staircase.

"You like the quiet it provides," Alice spoke matter-of-factly. "Libraries are really peaceful. They were the first place outside of Josie's home that I felt comfortable in. I didn't even read much until about a decade ago. And even then, it was mainly childish things. Picture books and the sort."

"Little sanctuaries," he hummed. "It's important to have a place where you can relax."

"Relax," Alice tried not to scoff at the word. It felt like it had been ages since she last relaxed properly. "Hardly remember what that's like." Alice jerked out of the way of Jasper's hand as he tried pinching her side. "Stop," she laughed, grabbing his offensive hand and lacing her fingers with his. "I'm kidding. A little."

"We'll have plenty of time to relax eventually."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "With you freshly back at work? Doubtful."

He met her raised eyebrow with one of his own. "Does it worry you that I'm back in the field again?"

Alice frowned, pulling her eyes away from his to stare at the library around them. "Maybe a little."

It was Jasper's turn to chuckle as he squeezed her hand in his. "Can't keep me in Pennsylvania forever."

"Yeah, yeah." Thinking back to their estate in Ricketts, Alice felt her mind begin to wander. "When we mentioned Aro and his people being around back in the car…"

Jasper inhaled slowly, his expression proving to her that his mind was going to the same place hers already was. "You mean the way the entire conversation ended abruptly after you dropped that bomb on them?"

"Obviously."

Jasper was quiet for a moment, and when he paused, studied the aisles to the left of them, and then turned down one, Alice followed patiently behind him. "I don't know the entire story, and I'm sure the one I've been told has been modified… but," he paused and studied a shelf. There were no books on any of these shelves. Instead hundreds and hundreds (probably thousands) of maps of North America filled the rows. He reached out and flipped through a few of them before plucking two out of the row and tucking them beneath his arm.

"Eleazar didn't leave the Volturi the same way Carlisle did." He started speaking as he turned and led them further into the library. And when a set of gorgeous wooden stairs appeared in their sights, Alice knew they were about to go on a little bit of a tour of the place. "Carlisle left because Aro sent him on this assignment," he gestured vaguely around them, referring to the Protector duties that Carlisle still attended to now, "but Eleazar wasn't assigned any of this. He wanted to leave."

"I thought no one was forced into Protector work. Or, I guess, anything surrounding it. Since the Council aren't Protectors, exactly." Although even with that thought, it was hard to take the sentiment seriously. After all, Carlisle hadn't signed up for this job. But he did it all the same.

"They aren't. But being a Protector and being a member of the Volturi are two entirely different things."

"His job was to find talented people," Alice recalled as she followed Jasper down one flight of stairs, and then another, "did they… not want him to leave?"

"It's my understanding that he was able to leave on the condition that he perform… some occasional freelance work, I guess you could say."

"Oh," it struck Alice as weird that they would let Eleazar leave under such strange conditions, but if his gift was that valuable to Aro, she supposed it made sense. "I didn't know Eleazar still did work with them."

"That's the thing: he doesn't. Or, he hasn't."

But before Alice could ask if they'd reached out to utilize him, she saw that it wasn't because Aro hadn't asked. It appeared to be because Eleazar would politely decline. "That's… nerve-wracking."

"Eleazar being nervous about Aro being around makes sense. He's encountered plenty of gifted vampires throughout the last hundred-odd years. And if Aro sees just how many Eleazar knows about, or if he sees any gifts he may covet…"

Alice fought back a shiver as her mind jumped to worst-case scenarios.

The way Aro's gloved hand felt shaking her own back home was suddenly a hard feeling to shake.

Jasper's hand found Alice's back as he led her onto the lowest level of the library. "He won't find out." His voice was hard, but Alice could see the frustration in his stony gaze as he studied more aisles as they walked.

The more time that passed where Aro remained in close proximity to both Carlisle and Esme, the higher of a chance that he would somehow discover her gift.

The idea was terrifying to her.

"What would he do?" Alice asked quietly, despite knowing that this wasn't an answer that Jasper would have. "I know, I know. He's not going to find out," she knew she had to try and stifle Jasper's frustration before it could begin, but she had to at least voice the concern out loud. That way it wouldn't drive her crazy overthinking the possibility. "But what if he did. Do you think he'd say something?"

Jasper sighed, removing his hand from her back to cross an aisle and thumb through more documents. "He isn't someone who is known for keeping things quiet. You heard the way he talked about my gift candidly in front of his guard. He would want you to know that he knew, for sure. And it doesn't seem likely that he'd keep it a secret amongst the rest of to Volturi."

"Do they all know about Edward's mind-reading?"

Jasper nodded. "Unfortunately. It wasn't something that they thought needed to be kept under a tight wrap back in the early days amongst the leadership around the globe."

"That's… frightening."

"It is."

"Do you think that's how Maria was able to figure out about Edward's gift?"

"Absolutely," he nodded. And when he leaned down low enough that he had to rest a hand on his knee, Alice watched carefully as he plucked a folder off of a shelf. The name WITHERDALE, J printed in bold script on the upper left corner pulled her attention back onto their task at hand.

"Is that his name?" James Witherdale.

Jasper half-shrugged as he handed her the folder. "Apparently."

Alice didn't open it. Instead she held it at arms length, eyes studying the name with apprehension. When she'd forged fake documents for him earlier in the week, Alice had chosen a random last name for him. It had ended up being 'Williams' after spending a few minutes flipping through random files and gazing upon the dozens of Williams' that worked in containment alone. Knowing that, at least alphabetically speaking, she hadn't been too far from accurate, left her feeling a bit strangely.

Forcing her mind off of the inevitability of seeing James' haunting face again, Alice shifted back toward another person she didn't relish talking about.

"Did Maria ever mention the whole… Bella thing to anyone?"

"By the 'Bella Thing' do you mean the 'changing a human to be a Protector' thing?" Alice nodded. "No. I didn't even know what the Protectors did, or who they really were. All I knew was that Maria was working on infiltration amongst the yellow-eyes' leadership somehow. She kept all her workings up North very hush-hush. Even with me." When Alice offered the folder back to Jasper, he accepted it, tucking it beneath his arm with the rest of the documents he'd plucked from shelves. "I knew she was doing incredible reconnaissance, but I also knew that it was dangerous work and I had other things to worry about on the other side of the continent. Watching and training newborn vampires was a constant. There were no 'breaks' from it."

"Not for you," she commented as he mind wandered back to Maria's exploits. The scope of everything Maria had done was still baffling to Alice, even when all of Maria's actions were explained to her. So much didn't make sense, and never would.

"No," he agreed quietly. "Not for me."

Silence seized them again as they wandered through the Library.

Well, Alice wandered. Jasper seemed to know exactly where he was going, making bee-lines for different portions of different floors before pausing in front of aisles and file cabinets and shelves. At one point he stood in front of cabinet and spent nearly ten minutes thumbing through each and every sheet of paper before finding a stapled-together stack of receipts and tucking them into one of the manilla envelopes under his arm.

Alice started exploring a little bit after that. Not straying too far from Jasper, but of course she wasn't helping whatever he was doing now. Alice figured it would be better to stay out of the way.

It didn't take her too long to realize that although there was no standard system of organization like there was in her library back in Biloxi, or even like the one they utilized back in Ricketts, there was a sort of rhyme and reason to the organization here.

They really weren't kidding when they said every vampire in their systems had their own folder. At one point she wandered past a long aisle of shelves labeled BO-BU and found herself wondering if her new file was planted somewhere on those shelves.

But if Jasper's file was up on Kate's desk, maybe hers was, too.

It wasn't until she wandered further away from Jasper when Alice took note of a portion of the third floor that was enclosed behind a door. A few quick glimpses showed her that the portion of library behind the door was just as massive as the open area they were walking through now. It was only what lay behind it that caused Alice to pause and hesitate, her hand inches away from gripping the door handle.

Of course there would be a separate section for the files of deceased vampires. Alice just didn't think such a thing would be so large.

A pit formed in the bottom of her stomach when she realized that just in the past year alone, tens of thousands of their kind had met their end. And knowing how non-stop Tanya and Eleazar and everyone had been working, she doubted that all of their files had been properly sorted yet.

Pushing down the feeling of grief, Alice turned around a briskly walked away. It was enough to face the reality of the situation when she was working. She didn't need to see a visual representation of their loss for it to seem more real.

Several minutes later Alice wandered back over to where Jasper was flipping through a thick textbook, his face scrunched up in concentration as he quickly skimmed the pages.

"Wouldn't it help if this were all on a computer?" Alice thought that 'going digital' was to help tasks like this become easier.

"They only started that process about twenty years ago."

Alice blinked up at him. "That seems like a long enough time to do it."

Jasper let out half of a laugh. "They've barely catalogued 17% of this place."

"Why would they—" but Alice's question answered itself before she could finish verbalizing. They couldn't outsource help. It was a matter of national security. "Oh. Okay."

"Coming up here to help catalogue items was on my list of things to do last summer, actually." Jasper informed her as he quickly flipped through pages, his eyes taking in the contents of the book with incredible speed. "Until word of Maria's return reached us. I was going to spend a good few years here supporting them."

Alice nodded. She wondered if that was still on his to-do list or her added presence had thrown that plan into the garbage for good.

Eventually Jasper sighed, closed the book, and added it to the pile of things he'd accumulated in the past hour. When he eyed her, standing quietly at his side, he raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

She shrugged, biting back a smile as she looked back up at him, momentarily overcome with a mixture of both love and attraction as he stared down at her. "I like watching you work."

He let out another amused sound, shaking his head as he bent down to press a soft kiss to her lips. "Come on," he straightened up before Alice could get a good grip on him, a crooked smile plastered on his face at her responding pout. "We both have work to do."

Alice followed Jasper as he lead her through the aisles. Although she knew where he was leading her she decided it was best if he lead the way. Besides, now that Alice realized just how alone they were down there, she had… plans for them.

It was difficult to hide her slowly rising desire as they walked further and further into the library, but if Jasper had taken note of it, he was either pretending not to notice, or doing a good job just flat-out ignoring her.

Alice almost whined at the thought. That wouldn't do.

It was when they made their way to the end of one of the corridors when Alice's one-track mind veered slightly off course. The idea of something as hazardous of a fireplace existing in a place where timeless documents and ancient books were locked away was as ridiculous as it was unbelievable, but it wasn't until she walked a little closer than she realized the trick the light was playing on her eyes.

God, she really was distracted…

She let out a light laugh at that, "I don't know why I thought this was real fire." She walked all the way up to the intricately designed and carved wooden mantle and ran her hand along it, smiling softly down at the fake lights that flickered and glowed within the glass panel. "They really spared no expense to make this place magnificent, huh?"

"It is a bit much," Jasper mused, the few folders and books he'd already grabbed still tucked undernear his arm. He wandered to a desk pushed up against the wall a few meters from the fake fireplace and placed it all on top. "Their files will have all the official information we have about them. It's beyond what the public knows and its more than what is available even in the most confidential areas of what we have in their home center back in Wisconsin."

As Alice listened to him talk, a few visions flickered through her head.

Sure, it was a little irresponsible to let her mind wander this way. Especially considering the circumstances.

Alice could only imagine how loud Rosalie would yell at her if she had any idea what Alice was contemplating doing right now. (On the flip side of that coin, she could only internally laugh at how Emmett would likely high-five her and encourage her ridiculous shenanigans.) But Alice was confident that she and Jasper would be here for a few days.

And she was even more certain in the fact that she knew that while they would be here for a little while, they wouldn't get much helpful information out of those files Jasper had just plucked from the drawers.

So when Alice made her decision, she couldn't help the buzzing excitement that flickered through her. Because this was it.

Mind already playing flashes of their impromptu make-out session on the jet only hours before this, Alice knew that at this point for Jasper to be ignoring her growing lust was just a sign that he was definitely taking this situation far more seriously than she was.

(And it wasn't that she wasn't taking it seriously. But Alice knew it would be fine. Not in the long-run, no. But she knew that they could get away with this. And that it would be fine. No, not just fine. But perfect. And really… really good.)

"Alice…" He hadn't even turned toward her but she knew he was listening to her slow approach. His back was still to her but he hadn't yet reached for or looked into any of the documents he'd collected. Instead he was simply staring ahead of himself. When Alice finally made her way to his side, reaching for one of his hands planted firmly on the wooden desk, she picked it up and laced her fingers through it, using her other hand to run up and down his forearm, wordlessly begging for his tense stance to relax a little.

"Hey," slowly, she pulled his arm behind her, placing his palm against her back as she stepped even closer. She knew that there would soon be no denying the emotions he was experiencing from her. She had the vision in her mind, solid and steady, and he must have known what was going to happen. "It's okay," she reached for his other hand and lifted it to her mouth, pressing a few small kisses to his knuckles.

"Alice, I—we can't," his words were quiet, and Alice could hear the uncertainty in his tone as he finally turned his eyes onto her. But she could almost see the lust building in his own gaze as he watched her nuzzle into his open palm. "This is hardly the place. Or the time."

"It's okay," she whispered, her voice barely louder than it needed to be for him to hear her. She knew he wanted this. He had made it clear enough on the jet, and back home, and even in the goddamn forest back in Ricketts, that he wanted her. "I want you," she spoke the words so quietly, so sure of herself that she knew Jasper could feel it all.

Her lust, her certainty, her confidence, her excitement, her love.

"I…"

"No ones going to know," she offered the words, as if she really had to convince him. As if he hadn't already made his mind up. (In her head, he kissed her firmly, and Alice was nearly vibrating with anticipation, waiting for her vision to finally become reality.) But Alice could already see that Jasper was, for once, finally on the same page as her. "They really are going to leave us well and fully alone. And even if there was some news they needed to tell us about," she lifted the hand she was leaning into and pressed his fingertips against her temple. The motion said everything.

She would see anything coming. They would be fine. This would be fine.

"This is so inappropriate," but he was already leaning down to catch her lips in a soft kiss.

Alice gasped into his mouth, already so turned-on by her vision that she didn't want to waste time simply making out with him. "So?" She moaned into his mouth as she tried to climb him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. "Edward tells me that Rose and Emmett have done it on nearly every surface of the house."

Jasper groaned and pulled away from the kiss, a smile on his face that was accented by a twitch of his brow. "Do you have to bring that up now?"

"Is it not true?"

He kissed her again, "I'd rather not think of Emmett or Rosalie right now," his words we're almost a growl. He wrapped his arms tightly and fully around her, pulling her as close against his body as they could physically get with layers of clothes separating the two.

Alice couldn't help but laugh against his lips, "Sorry," she smiled into the kiss, and when Jasper let his mouth wander from her own mouth, slowly pressing kisses down her jaw, and her neck, eventually nipping her collar bone, Alice gasped. "Oh."

"Alice," Jasper's tone was serious then, as he pulled away, but not before pressing a few more kisses to her face. "I need you to know… I just…"

Alice kissed him firmly then, already seeing what he was trying to word in his mind. "You won't hurt me," she smiled softly at him. "It's going to be okay."

"No one is here to stop me if I lose control."

"Jazz," Alice lifted her hands and cupped his face, hating how distressed he looked as he stared back at her, a hint of fear lingering in his expression, "it's going to be okay." She kissed him again, "I know you're nervous. And that you don't want to hurt me. You've been in control for a long while now," she kissed him once more, firmly on the mouth. "I trust that you'll be able to tell if something isn't right."

"I don't know if I trust myself," his eyes were closed as he let the words out, and it broke her heart. "I… I've already hurt you so badly Alice. I can't even think of any amount of pleasure I could give to you that would make up for all the pain and hurt I've caused you. Not just last fall, but over all these years. How can I make up for that?"

"I'm not asking you to," she brushed her thumbs across his cheeks, her heart breaking slightly for this man she loved so fiercely. "All I'm asking is for you to be with me, here and now. And let me show you how much I love you."

Alice leaned back in then, pressing her lips against his so, so softly, waiting for him to reply. Instead of replying ravenously, like Alice had foreseen he would, her vision changed ever-so-slightly, and Alice felt herself overcome with love and affection and how gentle she saw he was about to be with her.

"If I hurt you at all," he whispered against her lips, "even just a little bit, please tell me."

"I love you," Alice spoke, feeling so full of the emotion that she was a little nervous she might start crying, "I love you, Jasper."

Jasper kissed her more firmly then, and when one of his hands travelled to her front, his left hand holding her against him like she weighed nothing, Alice nearly curled her toes in just anticipation.

But before he could rid her of any layers or let his hand wander any further, Alice could feel him walking. She opened her eyes slightly as she felt him lead the two of them away, and when her attention landed on a couch not too far away, she smiled against his collar bone.

"I don't think a couch will be anymore comfortable than a desk," Alice commented, lazily sucking at Jasper's neck as he walked, "or the floor."

Jasper hummed, amused with her train of thought. Then, he kissed her again. "Trust me."

"Always."

He laid her down on the couch and suddenly Alice found herself simultaneously wanting more but also shockingly nervous. Of course, she knew exactly what she was in for. She'd witnessed scenarios of this nature dozens and dozens of times between the two of them at this point. So many different setting and scenarios that they'd been in over the past year had showed her different ways of this exact scenario playing out.

But Jasper knew she'd never had sex before, and Alice could only imagine how that little detail was forcing Jasper to consider things that Alice didn't have to. After all, Alice knew that it was going to be good.

Even in her visions where it wasn't exactly good (there were old visions that left them upset and further frustrated and evened scarred) it had still been phenomenal.

So Alice knew that whatever happened, she was going to feel sensations she could only pretend to know how they felt via her visions.

Something told her that the real thing was going to be so much more intense.

"I just want you to feel good," he hummed against her lips as he leaned over her, and when his hand finally slid beneath her waistband, Alice gasped, breaking their kiss once more. "And this will make it easier for me to make it better for you."

"Oh," she gasped, suddenly reminded of that afternoon on her couch all those weeks ago. And then immediately her mind reminded her of what he'd done, "remember back home?"

Jasper smiled into the kiss as he fingers brushed against her pelvic bone as they travelled, "Patience."

"I don't have that," Alice gasped, and when Jasper's fingers parted her lips, every thought in her head was wiped clean, "oh Jazz…"

"Relax," he whispered, his cheek against hers as he whispered into her ear. One of his hands was braced beside her head as his other began to explore her further, and when he finally pushed a finger inside of her, Alice could feel her body react involuntarily. And the noise she made then was unlike anything she'd ever heard herself make before. "Fuck," she couldn't help but gasp.

Slowly he began to alternate between rubbing her sensitive nub and pressing a finger inside of her, and then eventually he moved himself so that he was stationed between her legs. Alice barely noticed when he began to slowly pull her pants off her, but when she realized what he was doing she just about kicked him in her attempt to wiggle out of both her jeans and her underwear.

"Careful," he laughed, catching one of her ankles before she could accidentally knock him in the jaw. Then, he began kissing her leg, and Alice found herself entranced as she watched him kiss his way up her leg, slowly getting closer and closer to where his other hand was already back between her legs, rubbing slow, agonizing circles.

"Jazz," despite how good it felt, Alice just knew he was going slow, holding back, and that this could feel so, so much better. "Please."

But when he placed his mouth between her legs, Alice gasped, throwing her head back. Her hands went straight to his head and she couldn't help it when she tangled her fingers in his hair. This, she wasn't expecting. The acute shock was enough to stun her into complete silence as her back arched and her legs shook.

"Oh, my god," she whined as he pressed a finger inside of her and began slowly moving it in and out, his mouth pressed firmly against her clit as he let his tongue do most of the work.

It was so good. So much better than she imagined it would be—and god, how she imagined this—that she couldn't speak. Alice couldn't do more than focus on how he felt. The feel of his hair tangled up in her fists, the almost-uncomfortable feeling of tightness as he carefully added a second finger, the dizzying way his tongue sucked and flicked against her.

And when the atmosphere changed, the room felt warmer, her shirt felt tighter, and Jasper's movements suddenly went from pleasurable to absolutely mind-numbing.

Quickly, Alice could feel a sensation building inside of her, and she knew that she was close. "Jazz," she gasped, "I—I'm—"

The moment she said his name, Jasper picked up his speed, and in seconds Alice was crying out, her orgasm rippling through her, forcing all the breath out of her lungs as her legs shook.

Alice lifted her head, chancing a look down at his blond mop of hair, and when his golden eyes flickered up toward her, heavy with lust, Alice moved her hands from his hair to his shoulders, suddenly pulling him back up toward her.

The kiss she gave him then was intense. Hungry. She had barely come down from her first orgasm and was already feeling the pleasure begin to build again. "If I don't get this off of me," she gasped against his mouth as his hands travelled beneath her shirt, pressing against her bare skin.

Jasper smiled against her mouth before pulling back and stilling her desperate hands. She was trying to pull the shirt up and off of her. "Careful. Your bag is upstairs. If you rip your shirt getting naked then they'll know what we were up to down here."

"I hardly care at this point," Alice whined as Jasper moved off of her and gently helped her pull the shirt over her head. Jasper laughed and Alice reached out for him, yanking him back down. "I'm serious."

She kissed him again, and Jasper responded with a low growl. The noise sent pleasure coursing straight through her. Alice knew he was going to be gentle with her today; that was a certainty. But the idea of him being a little less careful made a particular type of want sit heavy inside of her.

This was just the beginning of their physical relationship, she reminded herself when he reached behind her and quickly undid the clasp to her bra, swiftly helping her out of the garment. They would have plenty of time to do things like this. Plenty of time to figure out what made each other ravenous and what they preferred.

Jasper trailed kisses across her chest and Alice arched her back, crying out.

That, she loved.

It was as he was kissing her breasts, Alice whining and panting, that she realized a very important detail.

"Hey," she whispered the word, her eyelids heavy with lust and pleasure as he pulled his attention back toward her face, "no fair." Then, she tugged on his shirt, frowning.

When he began to kiss her again, his hands slowly undoing the buttons of his shirt, Alice reached down and began to unbutton his pants as well.

He laughed, leaning forward to kiss her firmly. "You can't give me a second?"

"No," she replied stubbornly, using her own feet to tug his pants down. He was too damn tall though, and after he slowly—too slowly, Alice thought, probably purposefully so—shrugged himself out of his shirt, he kicked the pants off himself. They landed somewhere neither of them could see, and Alice was almost content.

Almost.

"Hold on," there was a breathless laughter in his voice as he kissed her again. "You're so eager."

Alice wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as she kissed him back, "I've been waiting so long for this."

"Me, too." His hand slowly travelled between the two of them, and when Alice felt him begin to rub her clit once more, she purred in anticipation. Then, she reached under his waistband and wrapped her fingers around him firmly.

The moan he released against her lips was enough to make Alice's toes curl.

For a few moments Alice simply held him tightly within her hand, pumping him slowly. There was a split second when she realized she really didn't know what else to do to make him feel good, and she felt a slight tick of uncertainty as she moved her hand.

"Don't worry," he gasped against her collar bone as he began to kiss and suck on the pale skin there, forcing Alice's hand to stutter to a stop as his mouth found a spot on her neck and sucked. "Let me focus on you."

"I want to make you feel good, too," Alice tried hard to move her hand in time with his, but when Jasper's teeth lightly grazed the same spot on her neck, Alice let out a squeak, and her hand stilled once more. She couldn't bring herself to focus on her own ministrations while she was experiencing all of these sensations at once.

"We'll have time for that," he spoke softly against her skin, and the feeling of his breath against her bare chest was immaculate. "Today is about you," he pressed soft, gentle kisses across her breasts and suddenly Alice felt herself so overcome with love that she thought she might cry.

Jasper lifted his eyes and met her gaze, "Promise me you'll stop me if I hurt you."

Alice nodded, so full of emotion that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry as she stared back at his scarred, handsome face. "Promise me you'll go slow."

Jasper swept upward, capturing her lips in another gentle kiss.

Alice was so caught up in his embrace that she didn't even notice when he'd finally rid himself of the rest of his clothing. When she felt him, hard against her thigh, she shuddered with anticipation. "I love you," she whispered the words softly against his forehead as she felt him carefully line himself up with her entrance, his eyes focused to where they'd soon be joined.

Thankfully, and despite how turned-on and wanting and ready Alice was, Jasper moved slowly, pressing inside of her with so much self-restraint that Alice found herself awed.

The sensation was… different than she expected. The feeling of fullness as he pressed inside, stretching her to accommodate, was something she couldn't accurately put into words. But she knew how it felt, and in the moment that's all she could focus on. The overwhelming fullness, paired with the warmth and pleasure coursing through her body, made it very easy for Alice to ignore the foreign feeling. Instead she laid back there, voice caught in her throat as she inhaled a stuttered breath.

When Jasper was pressed as far as he could go, he let out a shaky breath of his own, his head falling forward to press his forehead against her shoulder. "Fuck." His hands were moving quickly though, massaging her thighs, his thumbs rubbing firm circles against her hips as he held himself completely still inside of her. "You okay?"

Alice nodded slowly, her eyes closing as she hummed out a reply. "Mm," blindly, she reached out for him, happily sighing out when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started pressing kisses across her face.

"Ready?" He gasped, and Alice simply nodded again. She could feel him shaking, and she knew that his restraint was something she didn't think she'd ever understand. Slowly, he pulled back his hips, and even slower he pressed back inside of her.

"Oh," the moan bubbled out of her as her eyes shot open, "oh, Jazz, yes."

Then, the atmosphere changed, and Alice moaned again into the quiet, still air. The pleasure she was already feeling before was intensified, and every simple touch Jasper pressed against her skin with his lips and hands felt electrified.

She didn't even realize she was goading him, begging him to go "harder, faster, please," until he captured her lips in another kiss, their moans intermingling as he gradually began to increase his pace.

When Alice felt her orgasm begin to build she couldn't even focus on kissing him. Instead, she squeezed her eyes closed tightly, pressing her face against his chest as Jasper moved faster and faster, each thrust bringing her closer and closer to her peak. She was whimpering at this point, her arms barely clinging to his shoulders as her legs wrapped around his backside, trying to bring him closer to her, deeper inside, and when she felt him hit a spot inside of her, she cried out loudly, begging him once again.

"More, more," Alice could feel her body beginning to tense up, and when her toes began to curl, Jasper moved a hand between their bodies, quickly stimulating her clit as he thrusted.

Alice's sudden orgasm completely shattered any remaining composure she'd been unknowingly clinging to. Her back arched, her legs clenched tighter around him, and she cried out. The waves of pleasure blinded her and as Jasper continued to thrust against her, Alice knew she wanted to live inside of this moment forever.

It didn't take long for Jasper to follow suit. He made a few choked noises as his hips stuttered, and by the time Alice could tell which way was up, her name was on his lips and he was slowing to a stop inside of her.

Alice's breathless laughter was quick to interrupt their gasping breaths.

"I love you," she smiled up at him as he leaned forward, brushing her hair away from her forehead to press his lips against it. And then he was smiling, too. And he was kissing all over her face. Down one side of her face and up the other. Across her cheeks and nose. And when she lifted a hand he peppered her palm with kisses, too.

Alice giggled when he kissed his way across her collarbone and down her chest. "Jazz," she laughed, and then he kissed her deeply, and Alice knew that the warmth she was now feeling was of Jasper's own creation. His gift, amplifying and sending his own love outward for her to feel as a tangible thing.

She was so lucky, she realized with a happy sigh as she kissed him back. Not everyone could feel their own love for the person they loved, plus their love, too. Alice figured she had to count her lucky stars that she would never doubt his feelings for her as long as they were a tangible thing.

"I love you," he spoke the words firm, with conviction. "I love you so much." And suddenly he was holding her head in his hands, his eyes shockingly serious. "You're everything to me, Alice."

She pressed her own kiss to his nose, still smiling. "You're amazing, you know that right?"

"I mean it," his words were firm, but his eyes softened at the sight of her beneath him, blissfully happy in his arms. "I'd do anything for you."

Alice hummed, rubbing her nose against his, "I'm going to remember you said that."

A laugh erupted out of Jasper, the sound of it making Alice feel even lighter than she already did. The feeling of him, still inside of her, was strange, but when he slowly pulled out of her, she could feel a hint of soreness between her legs. She didn't mean to make a noise, but when she moved her legs, a small painful 'ah' escaped her involuntarily.

She made sure to speak quickly. "It's fine! It's fine!" And before he could straighten up fully, she'd wrapped her arms back around his neck and planted a wet kiss against his cheek. "First time and all, remember?" She kissed his lips before he pulled away fully. "No getting bent out of shape or getting all upset because you think you've hurt me or you—"

Jasper cut off her rant with another laugh. "I'm not upset." When she tried to get up to follow him, he placed a hand against her bare shoulder. "Just sit tight for a minute."

The sight of his large hand against her bare skin made her feel electrified again, and the urge to yank him back onto the couch struck her so swiftly she didn't know how to react. She didn't realize she would want to go again so quickly…

Jasper was laughing when he stepped away from her. "Not now," he turned and walked away, and the view he gave Alice almost made her content to actually lie there and watch him. "Try to remember where we are." His words were joking, but Alice knew that she really should try to think hard about where they were and what they'd just done.

(She idly wondered if they were the first people to have sex down here.)

Alice watched with a lazy smile on her face as Jasper walked around, gathering up their clothes. She didn't remember flinging her pants that far away, but in her eagerness to get them off, well…

When he tossed them her way, meeting her eyes, he laughed at the expression on her face.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"

Alice half shrugged as she pulled her underwear back on, sitting on the edge of the couch to pull her jeans back onto her legs. "I didn't know an hour ago that's what would be happening."

"More like once we got down here, huh?" He jumped his way into his own pants, smiling over at her.

"Bingo," she giggled, and when he picked up his shirt, throwing it over his shoulder, he wandered back over to the couch. Bending low he kissed her deeply, Alice eagerly returning his affections as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Jasper laughed as he pulled away. "No more. Not now," he pressed a few more kisses to her face as he sat himself on the couch next to her. "I still can't believe we just had sex down here."

"I can't believe we had sex at all," Alice spoke bluntly.

Jasper wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, turning and reclining so that he was lying down on the couch, Alice cradled between his legs as he held her closely.

Lying her cheek on his bare chest, Alice sighed, closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of her skin on his. Her bra was back on, but her own shirt was thrown over the arm of the couch, left forgotten for now. "I love you," she muttered again, her voice quiet.

It was the most she'd said it in one day since they were reunited last October. That night she'd told him upwards of a hundred times, terrified for the moment that Bella would have to step away and he would be thrown back into the side effects of Skye's gift.

She'd been desperate for him to know. To hear her declarations as well as feel her devotion to him. For weeks he had been tortured, choosing to withstand the horrors Maria sent his way than put her in even a hint of danger.

Unfortunately it hadn't been something in either of their control.

His hand traced her collar bone, lightly caressing the scar he'd given her, and Alice sighed.

Jasper hummed, pressed a kiss to the top of her head as they fell into a comfortable silence. Alice knew that this couldn't last. She knew that in choosing here and now to finally consummate their relationship she had effectively traded away any spare time for 'pillow talk'. But she knew that they did have a couple of minutes before their duty would be brought back to the forefront, and their relationship on the back burner.

Still. It had been worth it.

Despite feeling very much like the same person that she'd been twenty minutes ago, Alice knew that she was happy they'd finally had sex; it felt like one more thing that she didn't need to worry about. And it was one more thing that they could now do to show their love for each other.

And once they got back to Ricketts, Alice would absolutely want to show Jasper more and more and more…

"Sometimes I wonder if you have any idea how much you've changed my life."

His words were so quiet that for a moment Alice didn't know if he'd intended for her to hear. The intensity in which he spoke them—the severity of his tone alone—made her freeze, and slowly lift her head up to look him in the eye.

Of course, his eyes were closed. His arms were wrapped loosely around her and his head was tilted upward slightly, but Alice could see that instead of the relaxed expression he'd been wearing just a minute ago, he looked agonized now.

"What's the matter?" Reaching up, Alice pressed her fingers against his cheek, forcing him to face her. He opened his eyes slowly. "What's wrong?"

Lifting his hand he gripped her own firmly, pressing a kiss against her palm as he closed his eyes once more. "I mean it. You're not just everything, you've changed everything."

"I have a tendency to do that. Visions and all," she joked softly.

He was shaking his head at her dismissive tone. "It's only the past ten years that I've started to become… not comfortable, but okay with things. I know you tell me that everyone cares about me, and I know that they do in their own unique ways. But my empathy shows me just how mixed everyones emotions are when it comes to me. I know they care and they worry, but there will always be that unease, and that mistrust." Before Alice could start shaking her head. "I can feel it Alice. I'm not going to to hold that against them. Not ever.

"But I'll always be able to sense the way they feel. In the same way I can sense everyone else around me. In the same way that I can sense you."

"Me and my ridiculous emotions that give you headaches."

Jasper smiled as he began to rub soothing circles against her back. "Pure, not ridiculous."

"You called them child-like once."

"Children feel things purely. There's nothing negative about that. It's genuine. A compliment."

"I wish things were different for you," Alice muttered. "I wish you didn't have to feel everyone's suspicion or fear."

"I don't wish that at all," Jasper shook his head as he spoke, "it's helped me to protect myself. I don't let my guard down and I'm able to self-preserve very well.

"When we were given the first few clues that there was a possibility that Maria was back, of course I could feel the fear and mistrust and the entire cocktail of awful things everyone was going through, but it helped me. I was able to step back and look at things objectively, and then I realized that, if it was her, as long as I could put a stop to whatever she was planning, things could go back to normal."

"The way you talk about 'normal' makes me think you didn't like it though," Alice frowned, still watching his handsome face carefully,

"I did. The life that I was gifted by Esme and everyone else was beyond my wildest dreams in every way. I was resigned to my death back in the sixties. I knew I deserved it."

"Esme offered you the chance to live, and you took it," Alice chewed delicately on the inside of her cheek, "I'm happy every day that you did."

Jasper tilted her chin up and pressed a kiss to her lips. "I'm happy I've stuck through everything and made it to this point, right here. With you."

Alice laid her head back down on his chest and closed her eyes. She knew that there was more he wanted to say to her, but she knew that until he figured out how he wanted to word it, she would be in the dark. Either way, despite their work that desperately needed their attention—James is out there, her mind continued to remind her, the fact getting louder in her head as the minutes passed, Victoria is out there—she was going to indulge in these several peaceful minutes for as long as they realistically could.

She'd been serious when she said that Tanya and Eleazar and everyone would have no idea what they'd done down here on this couch, but she knew that they couldn't waste all their precious time down here, naked and rolling around with each other.

"I was shocked when I learned about your change date."

Alice hummed, "Why's that?"

"That was," he paused and inhaled deeply. "A bit of a significant date for me, too."

The vision of what he wanted to tell her struck her the instant he decided to. Alice sat up with a gasp, her hands covering her mouth as she turned andstared at him in shock. "No…" Her voice cracked.

"Come here," he spoke softly, sitting himself up and reaching out toward her. Alice climbed back into his embrace quickly, wrapping her arms tightly around his torso as she forced her sadness to pass.

"You—I didn't know—I can't believe—" Alice shook her head and the memory of meeting Peter and Charlotte for the first time was bright in her mind

"It's over in Ireland." Charlotte had said of the destination Jasper had once set a course for. "It's the only Center—so far, at least—where they assist in suicides. Of course it's not really called that. It's just located on the lower Shannon, hence the term 'River of Fire'."

"You were going to go? You—" wanted to die. But she couldn't even bring herself to speak the words that he had yet to verbalize. She was so stunned. Jasper himself had been the one to insist to her that he was a coward and only did everything he'd done at the beginning in order to survive. That, in wanting to continue to live despite his crimes, he was a coward.

"My flight was booked and everything. I was halfway to the airport when Edward stopped me."

A flood of relief sunk into Alice as she replayed his words.

Jasper had tried to kill himself the night she'd been turned. He'd been ready to make the trip to Ireland in order to officially resign as a Protector and then petition to end his life. He had been so ready to throw it all away. That was how miserable he'd been.

And Edward—Edward, who hadn't let Jasper spend any time alone with Bella for years afterward, Edward, who was the one person to know how truly dangerous Jasper was, Edward, who knew every single one of the things Jasper had done because he could see it in his head—had been the one to reach out and stop him.

"How did he change your mind?" Alice was relieved her voice didn't crack, because she felt dangerously close to crying. She knew she'd owed Esme for being the saving grace to Jasper originally, but now she owed Edward for rescuing him from death itself.

"He… didn't. Not really. I was more embarrassed that I'd been found out. There was no big explosion or," he made a face, "emotional conversation or anything of the sort. I don't even know if he knew why he was stopping me. He just kept saying 'don't, don't do it, stop'." There was silence for a few seconds. "It was a quiet run home. Then he reported what happened back to Carlisle, and they had me watched very closely after that."

"Were things better at all?"

"Not really. They weren't as openly hostile or standoffish. Rosalie's attitude changed the most for the better after that. Emmett's changed for the worse for a little, but he moved back to being his friendly self pretty quickly. But it wasn't just them who made me want to kill myself," Alice flinched as he spoke the words. This close to him, with their skin-to-skin contact, she could literally feel his sadness seep into her at her reaction. "The entire country hated me. The mistrust wasn't confined to the house or the centers. It was everywhere."

"Your gift really makes things awful doesn't it."

"I thought of it as a type of karma. I'd already been miserable enough alongside Maria, but in the back of my head I knew that what I had been doing was wrong and atrocious. And then after the war, when I was hiding out in barns and wastelands, I was so tired of it all. I'm serious when I said that I did regret accepting Esme's offer not long after. In the moment, I didn't think about what would happen afterward. My head was on the chopping block, and I did't want to die."

Alice had let herself imagine the scenario dozens of times over the past year of her life. Of Esme walking into wherever Jasper was being held prisoner. Probably flanked by Emmett and Carlisle or Edward and Rosalie. Maybe they were all there. Alice can imagine that Edward probably was. The mind-reading would have been useful to them in that moment.

She imagined the way he probably had to temper his reaction to all of them (or maybe just some of them) being in his presence at once. She wondered if he was confused by their emotions in that moment and the moments that followed, or if he'd grown to expect feelings he couldn't understand from people.

She imagined Esme. Standing there, smaller than the rest and probably smiling. Offering a way out with her words and probably an outstretched hand, too. Although, if Edward or Carlisle had been present, maybe not.

"I love you," she whispered against him. "I'm sorry that my change date brings up such horrible memories for you."

Alice felt him press a kiss to the crown of her head. "Quiet," Alice could hear the smile in his voice. "Many aspects of my life remind me of less-fortunate times. That doesn't mean it makes me miserable to think about. I've had a lot of time to sort through my feelings about my past, Alice."

"Not enough time for fully forgive yourself, apparently," she grumbled. She knew that he'd grown a lot over the decades spent as a Protector alongside everyone, but she wasn't about to act like he was above it all, and that all the progress that was to be made was already behind him. "You have a ways to go, apparently."

The smile was still in his voice when he spoke again, humming. "Apparently." He agreed.

Alice finally sat up, "Okay. Lets finish getting dressed. I want to find these bastards already."

Jasper raised his eyebrows at her choice of words. "Spending too much time around Emmett, are we?"

Alice snorted, wriggling her shirt back on. "Please. That's one from Josie. She gets very interactive when she watches her soaps."

"I'm shocked to hear she swears. She heard Emmett say 'shit' once and bruised her hand smacking his arm."

Alice grinned, nodding. She'd heard about that one. "She's a little bit of a hypocrite."

"Aren't we all?"

"Maybe that's why she gets along with everyone so well," she mused as she retied the laces to her shoes. She looked up to see Jasper typing away on his phone. "Everything okay?"

Jasper nodded as he typed, and Alice could just barely see that he was sending an email. "Just checking in with her detail. They're about to move her to Ricketts."

Alice nodded, pulling the vision forth and knowing that while her mother had been adamant on remaining in Wilkes-Barre she'd finally relented after a couple of phone conversations with Esme and Emmett. It relieved Alice to know that at least Josie's security team would be taking her somewhere the woman was already familiar.

Somewhere she wouldn't need to use any stairs and with a bathroom outfitted for an elderly woman whose mobility was beginning to decline.

"Don't worry," Jasper was standing at her side, phone pocketed, wrapping his arms around her in a firm embrace. "Nothing is going to happen to her. I promise."

Alice smacked his chest lightly then, before returning the hug. "I thought we agreed to stop making stupid promises."

"It's not stupid. And this is something that I can and will promise."

She rolled her eyes but smiled as she inhaled his scent deeply. The way his scent seemed to permeate her own clothes and skin, made her feel tingly all over. Of course, they could waste any more time than they already had here. But the urge to push Jasper back down on the couch and climb on top of him was very, very hard to ignore in that moment.

Jasper tilted her head upward toward him and planted a loving kiss against her lips. "When we get back home, after all of this."

Alice let out a breathy laugh as they parted ways. "We're going to have to rent a room somewhere. Or we might end up driving everyone out of the house."

Alice squeaked when he grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up, wrapping her arms around his neck as he kissed her again. When they parted ways, Alice's skin felt electrified. "I've had to overhear so much over the past fifty years. They'll have to deal."

Alice laughed as he kissed her again, and laughed more when he kissed his way across her face and down her neck.

Despite the irresponsibility of their actions over the past several minutes, Alice couldn't bring herself to regret it at all. Somehow she knew that their first time wasn't going to be at home, or in a bed, or after a long thought-out conversation.

And as he kissed her jawline, before capturing her lips in another intense kiss, Alice knew she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

---

A/N: And today marks one year since I posted the first chapter of this story! Thanks again for all the support you've given me over the past year. I've grown more over this past year than I ever thought possible, and it exciting to see so many of you coming back month after month to read more of this wild journey.

Thanks again, and happy Libra season! Indulge in the little things; buy yourself flowers, decorate and then redecorate. Have a self care day or three! I'll see you all in Scorpio season!

Oh, and this is as happy as this story gets. Brace yourselves friends. We're about to be in the sprint to the finish here.